Control over the Strait of Hormuz has become a "golden weapon" to Iran, for which it is willing to risk new escalations with the United States, and is a bigger priority than a nuclear program for which it accepted decades ‌of sanctions.

So central is the issue to Iranian strategy that ships passing the Strait without Tehran's approval were fired upon last week, leading to an exchange of fire with the United States that threatens last month's interim peace deal.

Iranian leaders, who had demurred for years from choking off the fifth of global energy supplies passing through Hormuz, now see it as ‌their strongest card in a host of disputes with the West, and the reason Washington ended the war.

"Recognize the ⁠new Iranian order in the Strait of Hormuz: this is the only way forward," wrote Ebrahim Azizi, a member of ⁠the Iranian parliament's national security and ⁠foreign policy committee on social media, addressing the United States.

While their insistence on maintaining control over the waterway risks becoming another long-term dispute with the ‌rest of the world, there is little disagreement over the policy in Tehran, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters.

There had been discussions about whether Iran risked overplaying ⁠its hand, but........

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